Parent application Ser. No. 08/619,223, filed Mar. 21, 1996 and assigned to the assignee hereof, discloses a multiple-container package that includes a plastic tray having a base with an integral peripheral wall and a plurality of recesses or pockets in the base. A plurality of containers each have a lower end received within one of the pockets in the base, and an upper end spaced above the tray. A canopy in the form of a thin plastic sheet is stretched taut over the upper ends of the containers, and is secured to flanges that extend from opposite side edges of the tray peripheral wall. Specifically, the edges of the canopy sheet are secured to the upper surfaces of the flanges, so that the residual stress within the canopy sheet, which holds the containers within their tray pockets, exerts stress on the bond between the canopy sheet and the base flanges that tends to peel the sheet edges from the flanges.
Although the multiple-container package so disclosed in the parent application has addressed problems theretofore except in the art, further improvements remain desirable. For example, it has been found desirable to strengthen the bond between the canopy sheet and the tray to prevent separation and possible dropping of one or more containers. It has also been found desirable to provide a carrying handle so secured to the base as to maintain the package in horizontal orientation during transport by a user. It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a package and method of assembly that obtain improved bonding between the canopy sheet and the tray edges, and/or in which a handle is provided for carrying the package in horizontal orientation. Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a package and method of assembly in which the handle is secured to the package in such a way as to strengthen the bond between the canopy sheet edges and the tray.
A multiple-container package in accordance with a presently preferred embodiment of the invention includes a plastic tray having a base with an integral peripheral wall, a plurality of pockets in the base and flange portions extending from opposite side edges of the peripheral wall. A plurality of filled and closed containers, such as beverage containers, each has a lower end received in one of the tray pockets in an upper end spaced above the tray. A canopy in the form of a thin plastic sheet engages the upper ends of the containers, and is stretched taut over the containers. The side edges of the canopy sheet are secured to the undersides of the flange portions of the tray in such a way that residual stresses in the canopy sheet, which hold the containers in the tray pockets, exert shear stresses on the securement bond between the sheet and the tray flanges. This bond arrangement has been found to be three to four times stronger than the arrangement disclosed in the parent application described above.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a handle in the form of a flexible plastic strip is secured at opposed ends to lateral sides of the tray and extends over the canopy. The mid-portion of the handle that overlies the canopy preferably is normally disposed between upper ends of the containers retained in the tray by the canopy so as not to present an obstruction to stacking the packages in overlying relationship. The mid-portion of the handle may be grasped and lifted for carrying the multiple-container package in horizontal orientation. The end portions of the handle strip most preferably are secured to both the tray and the canopy adjacent to the tray flanges for increasing the effective strength of the bond between the canopy sheet and the tray. The peripheral wall of the tray preferably has laterally opposed flat portions to which the ends of the handle strip are secured.